Purple Martin Forum

Congrats unk! Very cool that they’re using your mailboxes too!
Good luck
Rob

Agree with Tom.. probably SY males..females will argue for a short period but I’ve never seen them in a full blown fight.. it’s usually the males ..
Good luck
Rob

Hi Michelle..as far as the male HOSP, he is always a threat.. he could enter a compartment and poke holes in eggs or kill hatchlings at any time.. I would shoot him.. as far as the bluebirds.. as they are nesting and feeding their own young in their box, they have no interest in our martins.. my BBs...

Hi Brent. Yes it sucks . Same exact thing happened to me 2 days ago.. I found 2 dead featherless hatchlings on the ground.. both looked fine … then I found 2 pulled to the front room of another compartment. One was dead, the other was alive.. I returned him to the nesting room.. agree. It’s male SYs...

Hi.. some Martin pairs will build 2 nests in 2 different compartments.. the male will protect the second compartment nest, and try to run off any other males or females wanting to use it.. unless another male fights and wins it, then you will have fullly finished nests with no eggs.. I have 3 of tho...

Hi.. it’s normal for all birds, including martins, to scratch and preen themselves.. even without mite infestation. With that said, I do put a little sevin dust reapplication UNDER the nest , after the eggs hatch .. to prevent mites…that is my last application for the season.. putting it under the n...

Hi unk.. good luck on your training.. .. just wanted to let you know.. as long as your martins are feeding successfully , without weather events or lack of food, it’s not likely they will take to tray feeding … they really are hard to entice to feed from the tray, unless they are very hungry.. but w...

Male martins do not incubate.. only the female has a special patch under her belly, where there are less feathers, so she can transmit body heat to the eggs.. the male does not have this patch.. he was probably guarding the eggs while the female took a break to go feed..
Rob

Awesome Unk! Definitely sounds like a great site to see for sure. Enjoy..
Rob

Ahh, ok.. understood.. I didnt see those details about no physical damage and bloated bellies, in your first post. …
Good luck
Rob

Ok great! Thanks for the measurements.. I edited my previous post to tell you , they can jump 4 to 5 feet straight up, and 10 feet across, from point to point. With the measurements you stated, You can raise the guard about 2 to 3 feet and you should be good to go! That should keep them from making ...

Do you have predator guards on your poles? You didn’t say in your post. That’s a lot of dead birds. Awful.
Rob

Damn starlings! If you can’t shoot them, then tom, is your go to guy for trapping them.. follow his advice. Too bad you can’t shoot. I would take huge pleasure in personally pulling the trigger on those murderous suckers!
Good luck
Rob

Great job building the pole guard. Im sorry to say , I see an issue though. A squirrel can jump 4 to 5 feet straight up, and 10 feet across, from point to point. Your fence is within jumping distance to your pole. A squirrel can easily jump the distance from your fence to the pole, bypassing the gua...

Well said, mstan.. well said, sir.. I’m always thankful to God whenever I can help any of his wondrous creations.. and purple martins are certainly that.. HOSPS, starlings, and hawks that go rogue, don’t fit in that category.. I believe God understands why!
Rob

As Tom said, it’s inexperience… in those cases, I take the eggs out.. I basically build a bowl shaped nests for them, with pine needles… or cover the bare area, with cut pine needles and then put the eggs in the bowl, of the nest.. add a few oak leaves and you’re good to go.. they will build better ...

Agree with Thomas.. your martins won’t mind if you lower…
Good luck
Rob

You can use a squirrel baffle on your pole .. they have removable ones , on Amazon, that you can easily take off the pole for nest checks.. or a regular pipe style guard.. place it at least , 5 feet above the ground, so a squirrel can’t jump over it and climb up your pole or rope..
Good luck
Rob

Sure… let them nest there.. . I wouldn’t move anything , unless you wanted to raise the height a few feet, but don’t change the compass orientation..
Good luck
Rob

Agree with Tom.. their behavior changes as the season progresses.. right now, eggs have been laid.. hatching should start in about a week or so.. so they are quieting down a bit.. except for the 5 to 6 SYs.. they’re always making a racket!
Rob